Soldat
Soldat was a villain paramilitary on the north end of Boston during the Boston Games.“Who did you work for last?” she asked. “Soldat. They’re still around, north end.” They left you behind?” - Excerpt from Eclipse x.3 Modus operandi They casually utilized guns during their dealings, meaning that other sides, abiding by Unwritten Rules, would heavily prioritize them as targets.This casual use of guns was why Soldat didn’t already have East Boston locked down and firmly in their grasp. - Excerpt from Eclipse x.3The rules of ‘the game’ were that guns were verboten. ‘The game’. Gangs liked the terminology, and I was pretty sure it had stemmed from that culture. It was the nature of social groups to self-moderate. Things that were selfish and advantageous but that went against the group’s greater interests were acted on. Capes leaned pretty heavily on that abstract moderating force, because the laws had never kept up with us and we’d had to moderate ourselves. That was the game. It was the walking of the line between the selfish things we did for ourselves and our teams and what served the greater good. Secret identities were to be left alone. Families weren’t to be touched. The day to day of the city and civilian lives weren’t allowed to be disrupted. No killing; no guns. - Excerpt from Shadow 5.8As stated by others, it depends on what you do, not what you have. A lot of people (especially backseat critics who like to go on at length about what in-story characters are doing wrong) tend to say 'Gawd! just bring a gun, shoot them!', but in reality carrying a gun tends to say a lot, changing all interactions surrounding a cape. Knives and other weapons do to, but carrying something like that can often be considered almost an extension of the costume/image. Guns fit into that less. Carrying a gun adjusts all interactions. You're saying 'I'm not in this to play' or 'I'm expecting to hurt seriously and risk being hurt, and I'm prepared to defend myself'. It escalates the game and makes everyone a little more tense. A gang of thugs that all carry guns are going to come across as much more serious and will be treated as such. Getting arrested while having a gun, even if you don't use it, the group is going to get hit that much harder. Less so for a single individual carrying a gun in a larger group. In short, it's discouraged. Keep in mind that I'm talking about handguns here. Rifles, SMGs, shotguns, the context is much different. You don't bring a SMG to perform more effective warning shots. Using a gun, though, that changes things. The moment someone gets shot, it stops being theatrics and posturing and becomes an omnipresent danger. The game is no longer being entertained. In large part, context aside, the shooter is giving up the unwritten rules that would benefit them. Tattletale played by the rules. She shot Glory Girl to disable the forcefield. Still softballing it. Skitter shot Coil, but there was a longstanding relationship (and it was fairly discreet). Still sketchy, still a problem. Doing it with no warning, shooting a civilian, doing it recklessly enough civilians get caught in the crossfire, doing it against someone weaker, all will be perceived as dangerous and reckless. Maybe the entire city's cape population doesn't band together to go after you like the ABB did, but others may start playing it like the referee isn't watching anymore. You're the guy who shot Smokey Bandit, I don't know the whole story, and I'm not going to give you the benefit of a doubt and fight you one on one. I'm going to blindside you with two of my buddies at my back. Oh, you want to join Dark Lord Prowess' team? Well he doesn't want a jackoff who shoots B-listers working for him. Hm, you want to deal with me? Work together? Fuck you, it's your recklessness that's scaring civilians and making it harder for me to keep stuff running smoothly. The way the rules work, people know what's up and generally things work against those who pack heat and those who use it recklessly. They end up alone, they end up with more enemies rallied against them, hitting harder, and generally they get enough warnings that they should cut it out that they'll quit it or commit. Typically the approach of the opposition will be 'we know he uses guns, so let's not make this a thing that keeps escalating'. In different areas, though, the situation may well be different. I can picture Texas having more gun-wielding capes in general. - Wildbow on Reddit Their primary strategy is distract and attack. One member would use teleportation, position, stalling and forcing reactions, while the other is collected and ready to attack.This was their tactic. To use the teleportation and positioning, one hemming in, stalling, and forcing reactions, the other cool, calm, collected, ready to snipe the target. - Excerpt from Eclipse x.3 They hired henchmen and were known to hire professional soldiers from outside of Boston,“They’re hiring outsiders. Professional soldiers or some shit. They’re trying for quality, but you miss out something when you hire from a catalogue. Hire me and my boys, you get a close-knit group where we know how the rest of us operate.” - Excerpt from Eclipse x.3 including foreignersThe woman soldier answered in a language Damsel didn’t recognize. Dutch or German. - Excerpt from Eclipse x.3 History Background Origin unknown. Boston Games Laid claim on the east part of the city. Did not participate in any villain meetings. Unwisely decided to fight against everyone, which hobbled their achievements. Damsel of Distress choose their transport truck as her first target, planning to feed the group to heroes and scavengers, weakening everyone involved. She successfully evaded Soldat parahumans and produced a multi-sided skirmish over the toppled vehicle.Eclipse x.3 Members Category:Villains Category:Groups and Organizations Category:Mercenaries